OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS -- My experience with Bank of America has been a nightmare. Recently we tried to take advantage of the low interest rates and refinance our mortgage with Bank of America. They already have all of our information as they are the company that currently has our home loan. After filling out the application and being approved I asked the agent how long the process would take and was told that I could expect 2-3 weeks on average. I am a pretty patient person so I check up regularly for about 4 weeks and keep getting told that "it should only be a few more days". After nearly 8 weeks I am getting frustrated and am calling more often to get some answers to which I get the "I only have a few more things and it should be 24-48 hours". By almost 3 months I've given up and started to look for another company to take our business to. Then I get a call asking to re-pull our credit report because it has expired and they can't close our loan without our permission to pull the credit.

By this time I have been referred to another company and have started talking to them about getting our loan moved to them. I tell Bank of America that I will NOT let them re-pull our credit. Then the loan officer calls me and is furious and basically yelling at me telling me that I have "no choice" and that "I HAVE to let him re-pull our credit TODAY". I calmly tell him that I do have a choice and that I would like to talk to my wife regarding if we are going to cancel the loan (and pay the non-refundable items)and I would be back with him to which he replied "fine, I'm going to cancel your loan". I told him that I did not ask him to cancel it but I would like to talk to my wife. Then he told me "if you don't call me back before 5 o'clock today I'll just cancel your loan". I told him I'd get back to him, and after speaking with my wife I called and canceled the loan on a Monday afternoon.

We start the new loan process with the new company and after they get our credit report we are asked to explain a few items on the credit report, one being an inquiry by Bank of America AFTER I told three separate people NOT to pull our credit report. I call the credit agency to get the inquiry removed and they say that I need a letter from Bank of America explaining the situation to get it removed. I call our agent to request the letter and do not get a response so I try the other contact information for all of the people at the office(email/other phone #) with no response. So I contact the manager for the area and tell her the situation. She tells me that "she will get to the bottom of this" and "I will call you back before 12:30 tomorrow to let you know what I find out". 12:30 the next day comes and goes and I never get a call back so I call and leave messages for the manager and send an email and never get a response. Now I am very angry that a complaint like this just becomes ignored so I call her boss who is the Senior VP for the area and leave a message to call me back because I am having an issue and leave my cell phone #. A few days later I get a message from him on my home phone saying that I can "feel free to contact him anytime". Since then I have left four separate messages with no response.

I guess that they feel like if you have a problem and they ignore you long enough you will just go away. This is the worst way to handle customers and I am glad for sites like this where the consumers can let others know to avoid companies that do business like this. I plan on moving/canceling everything that we have with Bank of America, and spreading the word locally and online that Bank of America will not only take forever to help you, they will also yell at you if you try and leave, and will ignore you if you have a problem. Don't use Bank of America if you value your time or sanity.

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B of A and Making homes affordable loan

Posted by Michelle on 07/14/2010

To whom it may concern,

I am asking, no begging for help or at least some answers that make sense to us regarding the MHA.

In early July 2009 my husband and I were behind on our mortgage payment. I was very concerned about this and contacted our mortgage holder Bank of America to see if we could get on a repayment plan. I was talked out of doing this and convinced to apply for the Making Homes Affordable restructure loan.
I was unaware of this program at the time and the bank representative explained it to me.

I initially had a lot of questions and inquired about the acceptance and denial process, I was assured by the bank representative that once you were accepted into the program the only way you could be denied was if you failed to meet and complete what they required of you. First you had to see if you were approved, so I started the process with him at that time over the phone, he wanted all financial incoming net and gross monies we received each month and an itemized list of all outgoing obligations. I provided him with all of that and was then informed I would receive something via FedEx within 30 to 45 days explaining the process and that at that time I would be required to send further documentation.

On August 10th we received a letter from FedEx welcoming us into the program and congratulating us on doing what we needed to do to stay in our house. On August 17th we received the exact same letter again asking for copies of our checking account, paycheck stubs and tax returns, we complied with all requests and sent them. Not once but twice as they apparently lost the first ones we sent them, they had record of them showing up but no one knew where they were. So could we send them again which we did.

I stayed in weekly and bi-weekly contact with B of A inquiring if we had completed everything on time - I was repeatedly reassured that they had all that they needed and for us to continue making our monthly house payment. Which we did.

Finally after many phone calls to B of A we got a FedEx envelope on December 20th 2009 thanking us for our financial documentation. We again received same said letter from them on December 24th 2009 saying that we had entered into the trial payment modification part of the program, it stated that we needed to make 3 trial payments of $1782.50 the first on or before 2/1/2010 the second on or before 3/1/2010 and the third on or before 4/1/2010. I again called them and said I had just made Decembers payment and I wanted the terms of the trial modification clarified and outlined for me. The representative told me that the December payment I had made had actually constituted the first trial payment that was to be made on or before 2/1/2010 - I asked him if I needed to make another payment in January and was told NO, your December payment will be applied to your first trial payment, I then said to him if I don't make a payment in January then I will be behind another payment, and he said yes you will but that it would all get worked out in the loan modification, they will either put them to the back of your loan or incorporate them into your new modified monthly payment at a lower interest rate when the process is completed.

I stated to him that I was uncomfortable technically getting behind another payment and he then informed me that if I brought my house payment current it would kick us out of the program, I was not to waiver from the guidelines they set forth and had to comply with all they asked exactly the way they asked or we would be out of the modification program, I was again informed the payment I made in December was my 1st trial payment. I then said my regular monthly payment is $1780.39 and that the 3 trial payment vouchers they had sent me asked for $1782.50 it was only a couple of dollars difference so not a big deal, he then said to me make your 2nd trial payment on or before 3/1/2010, I thanked him for his time, but deep down this information seemed just wrong. I waited a couple of days and called back with the same questions and once again was given the same answers, and told do not waiver from the program guidelines we set forth or you will be out of the program.

In February when we got our taxes back I called again and asked if I should apply them to our mortgage and was adamantly told NO do not do that it will kick you out of the program. He did say I can't tell you I won't take your money but I can say it will kick you out of the program if I do.

I made 2nd trial payment before 3/1/2010 still keeping in constant contact with bank making sure we had crossed every t and dotted every I and jumped through all their hoops, I was repeatedly told yes you have done everything we have asked just keep making the trial payments you are in the modification process follow the guidelines we have given you, do not waiver from them.
I made the 3rd trial payment before 4/1/2010, as May was approaching I called the bank again and asked them how I needed to proceed, as the 3 trial payment vouchers they had sent us we had already used for making the 3 trial payments, I was informed that they were way behind on processing the mod loans and to continue to pay the trial amount to put loan # in memo section of our check and to continue to send $1782.50, that it may take several more months. I paid the 4th trial payment in May.

In June I tried to make the 5th payment in the branch as I always had and it would not accept my payment, I came home and called the bank and was informed that a letter had gone out saying we were declined for the MHA modification since our current payment was not equal to or more than 31% of our total gross income....( Shouldn't that have been determined long before we were ever accepted into the program? I think so if it had we would never be in the position we are in right now ) at this time I was once again reassured that we had gone straight into an in house program with the bank that would ultimately have the same outcome for I loan...so I paid the June payment, the 5th in this trial period only this time I had to now make payments of $1818.88 our original house payment had gone up due to our property taxes going up...okay I was fine with that and was told keep making the $1818.88 payment your still under review for in house restructuring. Again this was on June 18th 2010.

In a letter dated July 2nd 2010 we received a notice of intent to accelerate, I was beside myself and called them demanding to know what was going on with my loan, after speaking at great length with a representative and getting nowhere and no answers, I asked to talk to a supervisor. I did eventually get a supervisor and explained all we had been through from the beginning to currently getting her on the phone, she then stated your loan restructure was denied and closed on June 23rd. I then asked her when they planned on informing us of this, and she said it is not our job to keep you informed, it is your job to see where things stand...( are you kidding me? What did they think I had been doing threw out this whole process? it is documented how many umpteen times I had called and tried to constantly and consistently stay on top of this whole thing.)

She then very matter of factly wanted to know if I could come current by August 1st 2010 in the amount of over $7000.00, I told her I did not have that kind of money and that there was no way I could get it in basically 3 weeks, I was then advised the ONLY thing she could do would be to split the past due into 5 payments that would be added to my monthly mortgage payment thus resulting in our house payment for the next 5 months being $2926.80, this is all she could offer and the only thing that could save our home from being foreclosed on...I had to take her deal because I had no other choice and losing or walking away from our home is not an option for us, we love it and have always had the intent of staying here and not walking away like so many other people have been forced to do.

I am so disheartened, disillusioned and plain mad as hell that the bank can do this to people and get away with it. Had I gone with my original plan over a year ago our missed payment would have long ago been caught up, but by taking their advice and doing what they requested and never waivering from the guidelines they set forth they have screwed us. I was 100% repeatedly in contact with them, I thought I had asked all the right questions and complied with all the terms they set forth...they had the ultimate decision to put us in the program or not, we were not aware of the 31% rule they have for their approving or declining process, someone at the bank dropped the ball big time with this and they allowed it to continue by accepting our trial payments for 5 months now they expect us to be able to financially pick up the pieces of their mess and their mistake.

I was also informed during my last phone call with them that federal guidelines had not even been implemented into their program until April 12th 2010 so how then could they even start the process or expect anyone to stay within their strict guidelines if they did not even know what they would be. I also asked at that time for a copy of the agreement I made with them for the repayment plan be sent to me in witting as I felt at that time I could not and would not be able to trust a single thing I heard out of anybody working on their behalf. I am hopeful that someone on your end will be able to help us get some answers that make sense.

Sincerely
John and Michelle Nice ( Very disgusted B of A customers)

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Bank of America can't stick to their own Agreements

Posted by Jason on 05/22/2010

This scenario I'm about to explain just might top them all...
My wife and I fell on financially trying times starting back in September of 2008. After much thought and research, I contacted a friend of mine who for a reasonable and money back guaranteed fee, was able to get us a loan modification. Here is where it gets really interesting... When we started this process our mortgage was in limbo as it was transitioning from GreenPoint Mortgage to Countrywide. What really shocked me about that was the prior news that Countrywide had already gone bankrupt. Needless to say we were offered a loan modification by Countrywide 5 months after starting the process, and we were on track to save a whopping $42 per month. Immediately after that Bank of America took over. They assured me that there would be no lag in transition and that none of my information, agreements, etc., would be lost in translation/transition. Just as I was to make my very first new monthly payment, (according to the signed and notarized APPROVAL we sent in), I called in to confirm the department and address to send the payment in to, only to learn that 2 days before the payment due date they notated a denial of the loan modification. The denial stated that the "financials" don't meet their requirements. I climbed up the ladder and spoke with several managers who stated that I should send in my payments anyway so that I was not in breach of contract. At that point I even asked the manager if he would make a payment if he were in my shoesâ¦ Had something in writing stating he was approved, but couldn't get the same information from the associates working there; and HE said "NO SIR, I WOULDN'T". I went on to forcing this man (Robin was his name), to notate in the system that I was going to send in my payment with copies of the signed and notarized approval, and to notate based on other notes in his system that I WAS in fact approved for the loan modification. The manager did as requested. I know because I called in and confirmed it with a different associate later that day. On numerous phone calls that took place from 4/8/2009 through 5/7/2009 I was transferred from one department to the next. Nobody at Bank of America was on the same page and the majority of my calls resulted in a left message in the voicemail box of some person that did not return my call(s). This trend continued into July of 2009 where at last, I had a collections manager calling me every Friday with updates, if any on the progress or lack thereof on our file. For months we made our new, modified payments only to find that Bank of America was not honoring the written approval. They were actually applying those payments to the past dues that according to my approval letter, (signed & notarized), had already been worked into the modified balance and loan terms... This was just the first Phase in which we spoke to people in the Retention Department, HOPE Department, Loan Workout Department, Customer Service Department, Foreclosure Department & Collections Department, and several managers in differing departments as well.
Going back in time just a bitâ¦ In May of 2009 I found new employment with a company that specialized in financial assistance programs which included loan modification negotiating. Figuring that the end result of our so-called loan modification offered to us in March was a result that clearly favored the interests of Bank of America, we decided to employ the company I was working for to get the job done and finalized. We started our second attempt at a modification in August, 2009. Because that our mortgage was owned by Freddie Mac we were eligible for the âMaking Home Affordableâ (MHA) program. In September, just prior to our being approved for the MHA program we received a certified & recorded NOD, (Notice of Default / Foreclosure Notice with Intent to Sell). Almost immediately after that, in October we were approved for the "Making Home Affordable Trial Modification Program". All we had to do was make our 3 âtrial paymentsâ on-time and Bank of America would then advance into making the loan modification permanent. Nowhere in the documentation that we received, signed and sent back, did they mention ongoing negotiations and/or underwriting, etcâ¦
We have now made 7 payments. All of them on time and all of them over the phone, in which we have recorded confirmation numbers for each payment made. Bank of America is claiming that on 5/3/2010 they denied our workout for a permanent modification due to missing documentation, (that was never requested of us). I have also found out that they notated one of our trial payments as being received late, which is a blatant lie that can easily be disproved if a subpoena for their internal records was ordered. This would show the date and time that the confirmation number was issued. The representatives at Bank of America also claim that they sent us a written request for additional documentation, however if they did, we did not receive it. We live in a condominium complex with 321 units. We are always getting mail intended for someone else and vice-versa. What is most upsetting about this is that all of the original offer(s) for a loan modification was sent Fed-Ex (which required a signature); Isn't it safe to assume that any documentation with such a high level of importance be sent via "first class mail" / "certified mail" or the equivalent? These are just all out terrible and irresponsible business practices...
Nevertheless, the reason I found out that they denied the loan modification on 5/3/2010 along with the other aforementioned claims, is because I called them again to get to the bottom of our loan modification, which I was doing because we received 13 copies, (6 by certified mail), of a "Notice of Trustee's Sale" on our property. The public auction is to take place on 6/8/2010 at 10:00 AM. Furthermore, Bank of America states that they issued an Adverse Action Letter to us to inform us of the denial, but that too has never been received. I was informed by a gal there that my home was NOT in foreclosure and that all I needed to do was sent in the âmissingâ documentation, which included our 2009 signed & complete tax return, a signed 4506-T which gives Bank of America permission to access previous tax records, (that they should already have on file for 2007 & 2008 because we sent that in twice already), and proof that we are currently paying our HOA dues. When I asked why this process is taking so long, and educated her a little about the federal making home affordable guidelines that her employer is unable to adhere to, she stated that itâs because negotiations were still taking place. I firmly disagreed with her adding that there was nothing further to negotiate. She countered with a response pertaining to the âinvestorâ needing to agree to and attend to negotiations. I countered back stating that the investor was Freddie Mac who FINALIZED their negotiations with the Feds and the President long before they even launched the MHA program and offered it to the public; and that the MHA program we were offered was only available to us due to the FACT that the program was tailored to homeowners whoâs mortgages we owned be either Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or was an FHA loan. I also went on to say; and with that said, there were no other pending negotiations, just lack of compliance, lack of follow through, lack of professionalism and stall tactics, which boarder on predatory business practices.
Right, wrong or indifferent, I faxed all of the ârequiredâ information to Bank of Amercaâs Loan Retention Department along with a copy of the Sale Notice and called the next day to confirm that they received the documents. I figure that if I had any leverage at all; it would rest on holding up our end of the bargain. Their representative confirmed receipt of the documents and went on to tell me that in addition to our modification being denied on 5/3/2010, that they also notated on 5/5/2010 that our file needs a 2nd review for underwriting. I asked if they could give me a timeframe for the review and the gal stated they are not allowed to tell me, in which I replied; "because if you did the feds would shut you down for lack of contractual compliance". I mean after all, arenât all those phone calls supposed to be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes? I called back later to try to find out the name of the underwriter or negotiator in possession of our file but they couldnât give that to me either. I asked to be transferred to a manager of sorts which resulted in my call being transferred in the voicemail box of a "collections" manager who did not return my call. I bet that if somebody with enough time on their hands could get to piecing together all of the phone call recordings in chronological order, and per consumer getting the run-around by Bank of America, that Bank of America would be under Federal investigation before the Supreme Court and trying to defend a tangled web of lies and lazy business practices, in no time flat!
Weâre still playing the waiting game with Bank of America. Weâre on the verge of losing our home despite doing everything asked of me and then some. I also know, based on conversations with Bank of America representatives and co-workers who deal with Bank of America as a daily profession, that I can request for Bank of America to postpone the foreclosure sale date on my property. BUT; they will not actually do anything to fulfill those requests until roughly 10 to 3 days prior to the scheduled sale date. â¦Which basically means that Bank of America is not only being unprofessional and distasteful about their modification practices, but that theyâre simultaneously and tactfully hindering hard-working citizens from proactively saving their American Dream and their homes.
We have worked long and hard to have what little we possess, and to provide to our child. To educate, discipline, and teach our child the values of honesty and responsibility. We find comfort in knowing that our childâs moral compass is pointed in the proper direction. To me itâs unfathomable that child who still knows very little can make better morally grounded decisions than the staff at Bank of America.
Unfortunately, Bank of America isnât the only villain out there. I have contacted a couple of law offices with open / active cases against Bank of America. Some small, and some class action; but all they want to do is get me to start a new lawsuit against Bank of America so that they can collect a hefty retainer fee for their services. Unfortunately this is all turning out to be the works of a federal government whoâs congressional leaders are bribed by our President and the interest of corporate officers and shareholders. The Feds know that Bank of America is the largest financial institution in the world and that any legal action against them that favored the hard working AMERICAN, would result in the absolute single worst economic banking decline since 1929. The same CRAP that scared the feds into $ Billions of bailouts to the auto industry, and other Wall Street ventures, etcâ¦..
I am going to post this on every blog I can find, and share this with as many people who will read it or listen to it. We the people are not being treated with any dignity by our government or the financial institutions reaping on the benefits of our woes.
Whatever happened to: âWe the people, By the people, & FOR the Peopleâ?

475 CROSSPOINT PARKWAY, NEW YORK -- Hi,
Bank of America is extremely dishonest in everything they do! I urge anyone that can move checking account, credit card balances & mortgages to other banks to do so now!!
I have Soft Second mortgage. I wrote a letter in March 09 requesting a simple interest rate reduction because I read and watched TV and thought well if all these banks are getting these funds to help home owners why shouldn't I try to make an interest rate request. I'm extended...full time student/full time worker/have family/private school tuition for child/credit cards due to home repairs.. I requested this because I know that I am extended on my expenses. I provided all my financials to the Loan mitigation department at BofA. They wouldn't offer a simple small interest rate reduction but would only offer to extend mortgage from 30 year to 40 year. Ultimately tax payer hands over tax money to stimulus to Banks and that's all they offer. I get hit 2x as a tax payer and then a consumer if I take the 40 year because I'll be paying way more in interest for mortgage and yet my property value has plummeted to depths of hell! I declined the modification offer. Since then, I no longer receive my monthly mortgage statements. BofA started sending me late notices and foreclosure notice letters. I've called about 5x/weekly and also go into the branch now to pay my mortgage. I have never been late and never behind on my mortgage at all. I have all my bank statements showing that Bank of America takes funds every single month before or on the 15th of month but they show my payment history as processing after the 15th of the month. BoA reported me as delinquent on my mortgage back to May 09 to all 4 credit bureaus. I have been in constant contact with reps. I have spoken minimum of 15 times since March 09 to current. Every representative stated "oh, we have you as good customer and paying on time...there is no issue" It wasn't until I prodded and kept asking questions that I got more info. The receipt of late notices raised a red flag for me and I was proactive and requested a payment history for both mortgages ranging all way back to origination of mortgage 2006. I also demanded letters from BofA explaining why I'm receiving late notices when I'm not late or behind on my mortgage. I have never been late but found that they marked me late 3-5 times on both accounts. I pulled all of my bank statement including cancelled checks where BofA stamped the date. Every cancelled check is stamped prior or on the 15th of month.
This really affected me. I was so worried about receiving wrong late notice/FORECLOSURE LETTERS incorrectly I felt that they could put a lien on my house for my credit card. I think that they are strategically working to hit people with fees and even taking peoples homes. I decided to transfer my BofA credit balances to another credit card company. The other credit card company decreased original credit limit by $500 because I learned that BofA reported me delinquent on my MORTGAGE going back to May 09 and its now July 09! I unknowlingly paid with the chase transfer check to BofA and then that check got denied by Chase. But, BofA sent me my latest credit card statement making it look like they processed my credit card payment. So I better make a payment prior to my regular period and more than the usual payment just in case.
I have filed formal complaints with Attorney General, Bank of Commerce, www.helpwithmybank.gov. I've also contacted my congressmen complaining about this dishonest bank. You may be saying to yourself, "theres more to her story...she must be late or behind on mortgage.." I swear and speak honestly..I am not behind or late on my mortgage.
My neighbor had Countrywide and was then bought out by Bank of America. Neighbor never received notice to mail payments to BofA. They continued to pay mortgage to Countrywide. Then BofA started out sending late notices and foreclosure notices to neighbor. That's how it started for my neighbor too..they received late notices/foreclosure notices. Neighbor shows that checks were cashed but BofA kepts stating that neighbor din't make payments. They have told me same thing with me..one day I'll speak with one representative that will say..."you're showing late.." next day I'll speak with representative and they'll say..."you're good customer we show you paying on time and current". My Neighbor got RealEstate attorney and BofA even stopped speaking with RE attorney. 4th of July weekend my neighbors moved out of home....left home and turned the home over to BofA. This was their 1st home...lived there since 2003. They were family of 4 with 2 small kids. My neighbor is a City cop...both work and are respectable...I thought there was more to their story too...until I started getting wrong late/foreclosure notices too! Please, if you are having issues with BofA like these...go to the website I provided www.problemswithmybank.gov Write your state attorney general and report to every agency that you can...I also reported formally to the Bank of Commerce. I also contacted my congressman of my area. I will also try to find CEO of BofA write him letter too. This is not OK. We have the power individually and as a group of American Consumers by pulling our personal accounts out of Bank of America all together... The only way that we have to fight back right now is by our consumerism. On all accounts...if you want to have a job...we have to stop buying China...and every other country that ships into us but doesn't allow us to ship our goods into their countries. We have to send a message to government and these dishonest corporations that we have power and we as American PEOPLE are taking the rest of our power back. This includes the future of our country...our jobs and our personal finances. If anything...I have learned recently..."as a borrower...you are slave to the lender". I will work hard to get out of dept and never rely on a credit card or borrow from any bank ever again.
Sincerely,
Tash

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Modification approved with higher rates after 4 years of Fighting with them!

Posted by Naomi on 08/15/2012

Rating: 1/51

USA, TEXAS -- I want to make this short and sweet, It took at least 4 years of fighting and arguing with BoA, my nerves are shot and I shake every time they call! I have never disliked any entity so much as this place. They have been a constant night mare for us ever since they took over our loan from First Franklin a few years ago. Transferred to so many people with so many different explanations and out right lies, at lease 100 times if not more. I started a new "folder" every 6 months to keep up with all the phone calls and stories they gave me. All this because we needed a modification. They threatened us so far that I melted all my precious jewelry to send them a payment that I later found out I did not need to do. you see, I was trying to keep up payments as they told me to do, when really we had to be 3 month behind to actually get any help. I was driven to crying, and physical illness with these people. I found from some freak accident I'm sure that our local BoA in Denver could actually help us, and they did. They did all the paperwork with us and made sure all the figures came out right. They filed our mod, and filed it again and again and let me know each time what other papers we needed. The ridiculous amount of paper and information on our private lives is outrageous and I am sure they did not look at half of it! We finally just last week on Aug 9th got a reply in our favor, they approved our mod, except they did not change our terms, they upped our payment over 300 dollars. This is called a modification! We are now with them in this new mod., and they act like they did us a big favor! I will never trust anyone at this company again, ever. As soon as we are able we will refinance our loan and get away from these dirt bags. So- if you need anything in the way of changing your mortgage, please don't go through the pain that we did, immediately contact your local branch and tell them what you need, hopefully you will get their help and stay away from these 800 # thieves!

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Loan Modification

Posted by Bubbadirk on 11/26/2010

To whomever this may concern, November 24, 2010

Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself.

My name is Derrick Marquis and I reside in Corona, California. It is here I live with my 16 year old daughter and my loving wife of 19 years. I am 39 years of age. I am a full time employee of 8 years at a company in Irvine where we manufacture precision investment tooling for primarily Aerospace and Medical components. My job title is: Tooling Engineer.

Sixteen years ago when my daughter was born, my wife and I made a decision that it would be better for her to stay home and raise our daughter and I would be the one who brought home the money. We made many sacrifices throughout the years to make that happen. It was and still is a very good investment. Because of our decision my daughter is now a spiritual, responsible straight "A" student with strong morals & focused goals.

As parents who continue to survive so many odds against us, we could not be more proud of those choices that we have made.

Years ago I remember standing on my balcony at an apartment we rented in Huntington Harbor and with tears in my eyes telling myself that one day I'm going to buy a home for my family. This will be a home we can call our own. A piece of the American dream.

Myself coming from a broken family and constantly moving from place to place I never had that security that so many people had growing up. I was dedicated to not allowing that to happen to my family.

For several years we rented a small beach cottage home in Huntington beach just a mile from downtown. At the time my place of employment was only two miles away. This house was just next door to my In-laws whom I adored. We were very fortunate to have lived right next door to family for so many years. It was there my wife's mother Susie (our neighbor) passed away due to complications from Cancer. Not to long after Susan passed we were served a notice that the places were being sold and we had 90 days to move out. This news came very hard to both us and Timothy, Susan's husband. It was at this time in our lives that we decided to purchase a home.

A dear friend who at the time was a real estate agent quickly set the gears in motion. As with most home buyers we looked at a few places in surrounding areas but nothing caught our eye price wise. Knowing that time was of the essence heavy prayers set into place. Our real estate agent found a place in Corona. We got into the car and headed east. With only MLS pictures in our head we pulled up to the property and instantly fell in love. We were proud first time home owners within only a couple weeks of being served the papers at the place in Huntington Beach. It was meant to happen. The power of prayer!

We made a great sacrifice which changed our lives in many ways. Work wasn't 5 minutes away anymore. My daughters school wasn't just down the block. Timothy was 26 miles away not just next door. It was a tough transition but for the better.

Through hard work and dedication I was able to make that dream come true for my family.

We moved in on July 10th 2004.

In the years we have lived here we have spent tens of thousands of dollars on home improvements. All of these improvements were paid for with my earnings. I believe it is the cutest house on in the neighborhood.

Like so many people did when the equity in their home was substantial they took out seconds and bought cars and boats then when the housing market turned they were stuck with huge debt forcing them into foreclosure. In the years living here I have never re-financed even when the market was high. We took on a mortgage we could afford based on my income at the time.

Now, the bad news.

I don't want to bore you with all the details however if all the details are required by "you" the reader I would be more than happy to provide you with that information.

Reminder: All of my testimony from this point on is truthful backed by receipts, documents, dates, times and names of people my wife and I have spoken with.

May, 2009

Work slowed down and I fell behind on my mortgage payment by 2 months. Mind you from July of 2004 through February of 2009 we never made one mortgage payment late. Being behind we immediately called Bank of America (BOFA) and explained to them our situation. We were told. "We had to be 3 months behind in order to qualify for the Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP)". After we had lapsed into 3 months delinquency I was asked by BOFA to fax them a long list of documents i. e.: 3 months bank statements, 6 months payroll, tax returns, expense breakdown, letter of hardship and so on. Later we were told by BOFA that "We qualified for HAMP" and that our file is currently under review. Note: We were never mailed a HAMP Packet. Two months after faxing BOFA all the documents they requested, we never heard back from them. At this time I was 5 months delinquent. I was receiving foreclosure notices in the mail and one even posted on my door, documents from Recon Trust were showing up in my mailbox and strangers were showing up taking pictures of my home. Perhaps BOFA had their fax machines hooked directly to the shredder.

My wife and I were sick from stress and with BOFA not at all working with us, we had no choice but to hire a company to help us out of our situation.

July, 2009

I did some research and decided to hire Pacific Loan Solutions (PLS) owned and operated by Jeffrey Torrez and Wassam (Sam) Ismail out of Riverside. The attorney on staff was Zachary Gonzalez LLC. I went to their location for a free consultation and they said they specialized in loan modifications, I qualified based on my criteria and they said they would be able to help me with a loan modification. I paid the company $5407.00 to do the work (1.5% of the total amount of the loan to be modified). Strange I thought but desperate. Over the course of several weeks I emailed and faxed them all the information they requested.

Months and months and Trustee sale date postponement after Trustee sale date postponement went by and nothing was happening. I was getting further and further behind on payments. BOFA would not even accept payments at this time until I came up with the full arrears. Months later after hiring PLS I got a one page form letter from BOFA stating *** MODIFICATIONS ARE NOT AN OPTION *** that our loan was non modifiable because that the investor (Wells Fargo) will not allow it. Did Pacific Loan Solutions know this and not tell me to scam me out of my money? The answer in yes. The company had an "A" rating with the BBB when I hired them and now an "F" rating. PLS shut their doors and Jeffrey, Sam and Zachary disappeared. Once again we were at a complete loss with seemingly nowhere to turn.

July 2010

After several attempts trying to explain to BOFA our situation they still were falling back on the excuse that Wells Fargo does not allow modifications, I was forced to hire another attorney. Through the state bar web site we found a reputable firm, Keefe Roberts & Associates. After a consultation Keefe was convinced that BOFA was up to something strange. We paid Keefe Roberts $2000.00, in which every dime they earned only to have BOFA send a letter to them stating that my loan was non modifiable and it wasn't an option because the investor Wells Fargo doesn't allow modifications. Keefe Roberts was even confused. Keefe and I started talking about different options, i. e.: (Lawsuit against BOFA) not an option as it would cost me ($10,000.00) or more, Restraining order against the Trustee sale ($2500.00), Chapter 13 ($4000.00) or Short sale, ($1500.00) or of course walk away.

Don't get me wrong, Keefe Roberts is a good fair attorney but why is BOFA making me go through this nightmare? You would think BOFA would like to start getting payments from me?

My wife and I decided that we want to save our home and a chapter 13 seemed to be the best way out of this mess so we took that course. I put Keefe on the shelf and went after Zachary in hopes to get my money back so I could pay Keefe for the chapter 13 fees.

August 2010

A friend of mine and I found where Zachary Gonzalez (former PLS attorney) was practicing and confronted him in a public arena demanding my money back. He refused to refund me stating he simply did not have it, and an argument ensued. Police were even called. Finally Zachary offered to provide me the services for a Chapter 13 and court representation free of charge. I scheduled an appointment with him and the contract was agreed upon. The contract stated that Zachary Gonzalez would perform the services required for a chapter 13 free of charge. I contacted Springboard and paid the $45.00 fee to complete the online certificate course for pre-petition counseling for chapter 13. I wrote him a check for the amount of $274.00 for a chapter 13 court filing fee. Relieved I waited patiently to hear back from him.

Well that's just great now I have to call Keefe Roberts and tell him, "you know Zachary, that guy who stole fifty four hundred bucks from me, well now he's going to represent us in court". After notifying Keefe about what had happened I had a sense of relief that Zachary would make good on his promise and maybe things were starting to look up for us. Rightfully so Keefe probably thought we were nuts, however I had no choice and I did not have $4000.00 to pay Keefe for a chapter 13.

A couple of weeks went by and I had not heard back from Zachary so I decided to leave work early and go down to his office in Riverside. The secretary of the building told me she had not seen or heard from him for a couple of weeks and a lot of people were coming in asking the same question. Weak in the knees and a stomach ache I went home and later on found out he was disbarred. Evil forces are working against us once again.

Now without an attorney to represent me in court and the lack of knowledge and paperwork it took to represent myself in court and the fact that 95% of all chapter 13 cases that are self represented are denied by the courts I turned back to Keefe Roberts. I wrote another check to Keefe for the amount of $2000.00 in which he continued to try to get BOFA to modify our loan to no avail.

At this time Keefe Roberts wanted to continue on with a chapter 13 but without BOFA Working with us by modifying my loan and adding my arrears to the back of the loan it seems to heavy of a burden for me.

Keep in mind by this time I am $9726.00 plus numerous days off work trying to get BOFA to modify my loan when all BOFA needed to do was help me out with my mortgage back in May of 2009. $9726.00 is 6 months of my mortgage payments to BOFA!

Why didn't BOFA tell me that modifications were NOT an option up front. Instead they lead me on for months and months allowing me to believe something was happening when actually nothing was happening. If I would have known up front that modifications on my loan were NOT an option (which I don't believe this as being true) then I could have taken a different course which would have landed me in a much better situation now.

A simple one page form letter from BOFA stating modifications are not an option is simply not enough information for me or my attorney for that matter. I thought that BOFA by law was supposed to work with the buyer by modifying their loan (if necessary) providing they have income. Wait according to BOFA you don't even need to have an income for them to work with you. Sure my hours got cut for a while but I never lost my job!

I went on (http://homeloanhelp/. bankofAmerica.com/en/loan-solutions.html) and here's what they say.

"If you're having trouble paying your mortgage, the following home loan assistance programs were created to help homeowners stay in their homes and make their payments more affordable. Let's work together to find a home loan assistance solution that's right for you."

My wife and I even spoke with a HUD counselor who said she would take our information and give it to BOFA and that she would get back with us. We never heard from that lady again.

Of course this letter is an abridged version and I left out many small details, but in a nutshell you get the idea. Over the course of the last 18 months of hell starting back in February, 2009 I have learned a lot about a lot of things that most people should never have to know in their lifetime. I understand that it was I who fell behind on my mortgage payments back in February of last year but I never thought it would come to this. Further more I thought that's what the HAMP program was all about, Making Home Affordable Program? I am a hard working middle class American who does not rely on free government handouts to get from day to day like some people do. It was my understanding the Federal Government bailed out BOFA and set up laws forcing BOFA to use the money to help folks like myself. I was never offered that opportunity. All I ever wanted was to get back on track and current on my mortgage and to build up that sense of security I had before this nightmare occurred. It seems to me BOFA wants my home because they have no desire to work with me and start receiving payments?

I will not give my home to BOFA without a fight.

Well, once again, here we sit with a December 2nd trustee sale date looming over us and again at a complete loss with seemingly nowhere to turn.

Do I pay more of my hard earned money to high priced attorneys or would Bank of America rather have it?

Thank you for reading this letter.

Derrick L. Marquis

bubbadirk@gmail. com

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Bank of America's Home Loan Modification Process is a Nightmare

Posted by Claudia47 on 12/23/2010

I am a self-supporting 64-year old single woman and I own condo in South Florida. In the last two years my equity disappeared until I was seriously "upside down".

Since my debt-to-income ratio also suffered, I was excited when I read that Bank of America offered a Home Loan Modification Program which I might qualify for. After completing an online form, I was sent an initial package of paperwork. It took some time and effort to get all of the required documents, but I sent them back. BOA replied with a package offering temporarily lowered payments (reduced by about $70 a month). Although this was a disappointingly small reduction, I was happy to get anything.

For the next eight months I continued to make the lowered payments, even though the 6-month trial had ended. Each month I spoke to a different customer service representative when I made my payment. I asked them if everything was OK. That's when things got strange. One month a representative told me that my original documents had been shredded because I didn't put my loan number on each page of documents I'd originally sent to them. She told me I had to resend everything, which I did.

The following month I made a payment, checked my status, and was told again that my new documents had been shredded because my account manager must have left the department, so they routinely shredded documents, "for privacy reasons". I faxed them again. The representative then proceeded to charge me a pay-by-phone fee in error and told me it would be credited back. It was not.

The next month I finally got a call from an account manager who told me he needed still another document. After some work and research, I got the document. Many phone calls and some time later, the information was in the hands of a man who assured me everything was proceeding on schedule.

A week later I got a letter advising that I need to enter credit counselling as a condition of the reduction in my loan.

Before I got a chance to call one of the approved credit counselling agencies, I received a call advising that I need to arrange a time for a notary to come to my home so the final arrangements could be completed. I called and provided the two alternate times and dates. The next day I received another call from a different person, asking for the exact same information.

Last night I got home from work to find a Fed Ex package containing the documents which provide my new, permanent payment.

After almost a year of frustration, aggravation, and unbelievable incompetence, Bank of America has negotiated a. 02% decrease in my interest rate.

But the important thing is that their program will now aide me in keeping my home in these hard times.

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Bank of America Home Loan Illegal Practices

Posted by Ron on 12/01/2010

I fell just one month behind on my home loan. Tried several times to get a home loan modification but continaully told by BOA that I had to fill out paperwork that they WOULD NOT send. Finally wwnt to a lawyer and we fill out HAMP program paperwork and that was sent to BOA. They would NOT accept the HAMP modification paperwork. Then I made a partial payment they they STILL to this day have in a partial payment account and WILL not apply that to what I owe. I have since been making large amounts of payments and they STILL REFUSE to add the portion that is in that partial payment account. I have since paid off all my credit cards with BOA and wanted them cancelled, however they would NOT cancel them. It took me 4 days to get someone on the phone that could actually cancel the BOA Mastercard! Recently made 2 payments which my credit union says that BOA took out of my account and as of yet, it has still not posted to my BOA home loan!

I have been receiving calls starting at 9:05Pm to 9:30 PM 3 days a week from an automated calling program owned by BOA. They will not stop the calls! I have since blocked that phone number from my service.

Again, every time I have been on the phone with BOA, I get a completely different story! Since my home loan is guaranteed by the VA, I did a 3 was conference call with the VA myself and BOA, and then again, on one call was told one thing, and then on another call, was told something completely different. All my financial information was messed up that they said was "corrected".

Every time you call them, they ask you if you are currently living in the residence, and I always tell them yes. So far they have sent out people to verify that I am living there and then charge that to me. When then do they always ask you if you are still living there. 2 faced it appears.

I was told on last Friday, that I even owed another 854.08 in fees when using the pay-by-phone option, and that I had not paid fees since 2006! I got my bank statements and it showed that every time I made a payment via phone, that they took out that pay-by-phone fee. After 1 hour and 20 minutes on the phone, a supervisor caught the error and had to correct it. If BOA accounting was correct, they would not have had to "correct" it.

1. BOA is nothing more than a loan shark
2. They charge excessive fees
3. The do not follow laws (HAMP program)
4. The accounting system they used is extremely inaccurate
5. Multiple stories every time you call in from customer service on one specific issue.

How Bank of America is getting away with this is simply amazing. Even the way they had treated the VA representative during our 3-way conference call is unbelievable. Now I am making payments in the thousands etc... and appears that "everything" I Pay is getting posted "late". I check my bank statements and I see them taking the money, but it doesn't post when they take it.

I even asked them to send the money back in a check for what they are holding in the partial payment account as they are not going to post it to my account, and they flatly refused.

This is the WORST bank I have ever dealt with. I hope the federal government investigates them and then closes them down.

I know that I cannot be the only person

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Loan Modification Fraudulent activity by BAC officials

Posted by Steve on 10/16/2010

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- It seems Bank of America has made it a habit to screw the America Tax Payers and try and steal homes from citizens all across this country. I had the misfortune of having a home loan from Countrywide back in 7/2006 and I guess Bank of America took over Countrywide and now I have to deal with the dishonest people of Bank of America.
In January of 2007 I lost my job and in March 2009 I was diagnosed with cancer and prior to this we were debt free and had no credit card debt the only debt we had was our home. After losing a kidney through cancer and not being able to find a job we occurred some credit card debt and we were still keeping current on our home and credit cards. I started working 2 jobs just to feed the family and pay the mortgage payments. Bank of America approached me and I was supposed to refinance my home in 7/2009 and the day prior to closing BAC inormed me I did not qualify for the loan program I was going under due to PMI private mortgage insurance was built into my loan. This would have reduced my payment by over $225 a month. After struggling a few more months BAC suggested I get into the Loan Modification program and in November of 2009 I was approved and provided coupons for trial payments. I have paid the trial payments and have kept paying those same payments to this day while we are trying to get this modification approved. I have called and called and of course you get different stories from BAC and they tell you we need your financials updated I have provided those 8 different times and they still claim they need updated financials. I also was informed that I turned down 2 different offers but yet no offers were ever presented to me no can they produce these offers. Then the next thing I get a letter telling me I have been turned down for not qualifying for a loan modification. On top of all that they reported me delinquent on my mortgage in February, March, April and ever since then even though they said they would not do so. I then appealed all of there decisions and they put under review issued a letter of correcting my credit report but now almost a year later we are still playing the game with BAC. By the way due to there wrong reporting to the credit agencies most credit card companies raised my interest rates from 9-10% to 24-29% because it appeared I was delinquent which I was not.
I have filed complaints with Attorney General for the State of Tennessee and ever other agency I could think of nothing is being done. BAC took 19 billions dollars from the federal government and this is how they reward the tax payers that pay this money. I can only home one day this bank president can experience some of the things I have experienced loss of job, cancer and the threat of losing my home all from the dishonest dealings of Bank of America!!! This is wrong and I will fight till the bitter end for my home.

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Bank of America - Avoid them at all costs!

Posted by chrissiann on 08/26/2010

I have had excellent credit for 20+ years, never had a problem paying my bills and still don't have a problem paying my bills. However --

“Bank of America" is only a disguise for thieves, crooks and an evil scourge on the planet.
I can write pages on how they have tried every tactic to screw me for more than 14 months now. They are stressing me out every day of my life and taking time from my work and family to deal with them repeatedly.

I have had impeccable credit for 20+ years dealing with all sorts of businesses. All it takes is the fatal mistake of dealing with Bank of America. I have never had a problem paying my bills, and I still have no problems paying my bills, but BOA will try to steal every bit of money from you that they can, mess up your credit, and try very hard to foreclose on you and steal your property when you have never had a problem paying your mortgage.

I was faithfully paying my mortgage and always pay extra towards my principal thus reducing my balance owed and reducing the interest. I have always done this with all my creditors. When I first took the mortgage with BOA, they said if I pay early it was OK. Well I notice they started misapplying my extra principal. After a couple of months of BOA misapplying my funds, I complained to them and they apologized. Then they suddenly “lost” my address and stopped sending my bills. I tried for months for them to get my address right; I jumped through hoops calling them, mailing documents, etc., and doing everything t hey told me to do. They lost my documents. I still was not getting my bills anymore or my statement summaries, so I went online to pay. They blocked me from paying online. I called them so I can pay my bills over the phone. They tried to charge me outrageous fees for paying over the phone unless I open a checking account with them too. When I asked to speak to supervisor, they put me on hold forever and I never get to speak to anyone else. Everyone I speak to there is completely incompetent. I even tried to locate a local BOA branch to pay, but their website states there is no branch within 100 miles of my zipcode, and I live in New Orleans!!

I told them there is no way in hell I’d ever open any other account with them after the way they mistreat me. They refuse to let me pay my mortgage properly and now they only have my correct address for the purpose of sending me foreclosure notices!!!! They block me from my faithful payments and are now trying to steal my property!!! This is possible in the United States for a business to fraudulently screw faithful customer out of their property! They will stop at nothing to screw you and steal everything you have! Once I am done with them I will never do business with them again in any way, shape or form. I want to warn everybody to please save yourself and avoid Bank of America at all costs!!!!!